10/08/2024
Hey all,
We have been informed that johns open heart surgery will be done in Melbourne on the 4th September. So we have had a bit of a change around and some runs will be done a week earlier, to fit everyone in.
We will fly to Melbourne on the 2nd of September. Pre admission on the 3rd September with the surgery happening on the 4th September. We have been advised john will be in ICU for atleast 2 days and another 5 days in hospital. We will have to stay in Melbourne an extra week to make sure john is OK to fly home again. If all goes to plan we maybe able to fly home around 18th September. If all goes to plan and john heals well, he hopes to be back at work in December. We do have a few farriers that are willing to help out with johns runs, so please reach out to us if you would like this to happen.
Thank you everyone for your patience, while we navigated though this whole crazy process. We hope to see you all again before the end of the year.
For those that don't know, After johns echocardiograph came back with server stenosis of his aortic valve, the specialist refured him to a cardiologist. Who then sent john off for more testing.
John needed a TOE (Transoesophageal Echocardiography) which is a cardiac diagnostic procedure that views and takes photos of the structures of the heart and aorta via the throat.
He also needed a coronary angiogram which is a procedure where a doctor injects a special dye into the coronary arteries of his heart. They take a series of x-rays showing the flow of dye through johns heart. This is to check if there is any narrowing of blood flow or blockages in johns coronary arteries.
They then decided to do a CT scan which is a scan that records pictures of your heart. Before the pictures are taken, dye is injected into a vein. The dye highlights any blockages in your coronary arteries, helping to diagnose coronary artery disease.
With all the results from this it was decided a Ross procedure which is also known as the switch procedure or pulmonary autograft procedure, is a cardiac surgery in which a diseased aortic valve is replaced with the patient's own pulmonary valve. This is followed by the replacement of the pulmonary valve with a pulmonary allograft. (Human Donated valve)
Unfortunately only about 3 people do this type of open heart surgery in Australia and none of them are in WA. John was referred to a surgeon in Melbourne, which we had to fly to Melbourne to meet the surgeon and now have a date.
